A streaming media service generally includes a content server, a content player, and a communications network connecting the content server to the content player. The content server is configured to store (or provide access to) media files (or “streams”) made available to end users. Each stream may provide a digital version of a feature length film, a television program, a sporting event, a staged or live event captured by recorded video, and the like. Streams also include media content created specifically for distribution online. Media playback by a client device is typically referred to as “streaming” because the content server transmits portions of a media file to the client device, which in turn decodes and initiates playback without waiting for the complete stream to be received.
Streaming media titles may be promoted to users by various means, such as e-mail, banner ads, billboards, etc. Users are typically chosen as targets of promotion based in part on data collected when other users played and searched for the promoted titles. For example, the play and search data about a promoted title may be used, in conjunction with play and search data for a user, to generate scores indicating whether the user is likely to be interested in the promoted title. However, when new media titles are first released or made available from a streaming media service, play and search data for that title may be unavailable.